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Handbook for Small and Direct Marketing Farms

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Handbook for Small and Direct Marketing Farms:

Regulations and Strategies for Farm and Food Businesses

The Handbook for Small and Direct Marketing Farms is a flagship resource from the Regional Markets Program. This handbook provides guidance for farms and food businesses looking to start, expand, or diversify their operations. This handbook is available as a hard copy - you can order a copy to be sent to you for the cost of shipping, or email us to see if there is one available for pick up in your area. 


 

View the online version

The information in the Handbook for Small and Direct Marketing Farms is available online through pdfs. Please expand the options below to find the Fact Sheets you are looking for.

Please note that the information in this handbook was accurate at the time of publication (2019). Please email us with any questions. 
farmer holding peanuts

Where should you go for help with your small farm or food-related business? This chapter covers ways to learn about everything from classes and workshops to field days and conferences. A host of organizations, including non-profits, government agencies, schools, and industry-specific groups work hard to provide these resources. This section covers how to link up with these efforts including information for Veteran, Spanish-speaking, and Hmong farmers.

To stay up to date on current opportunties for farmers, be sure to join the Regional Markets mailing list!
 

farmers harvesting vegetables

Like any business owner, farmers and those running farm-related businesses need to do buiness planning and ensure they have the right licenses, pay the proper taxes, get the necessary insurance, and have the financing to make their specific farm or food business a success. This section covers those topics as well as laws related to employees and labor.
 

 
Wheel of cheese

One thing any business needs is customers. This section offers ideas and strategies to help you find those customers and grow your business. Fact sheets cover considerations for selling direct to customers at farmers markets, CSA's, U-pick. and online, as well as selling to schools, restaurants, grocery stores and co-ops. Getting into culinary and agritourism, selling via food hubs and donating to food banks are also included in this section.
 


 

Woman petting pig

Organic certification may be the best known of the certifications available to growers and food-related businesses, but there are  many labels available. Which ones best inform your customers about your products, your values and your priorities? This section explains some of the more common certifications, what's involved in obtaining them, and where to learn more about them.
 

Woman bottling milk Are you a food processor, thinking of becoming one, or just not sure if the preparation of your product qualifies as food processing? Get the answers you need in this section, which covers everything from licensing requirements to where help can be found. Cottage Food permits, product recalls, and the federal food safety rules are also covered.

 

Farmer bagging salad greens Some products, such as nuts, eggs, alcoholic beverages, lotions and cosmetics, have specific regulations that govern how they're handled, who can sell them, where they are sold and a host of other aspects. Learn more about the various requirements for these and other specific products in this section.
 

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